Most birthday cakes aren’t known to be nutritionally sound. While it’s true that it can be enjoyable to indulge in a rich and decadent piece of cake, it may not necessarily be the best “present” we could give to ourselves. If you’re making a celebratory dessert for a friend, they may appreciate this Fruit Cake more than they would a typical birthday cake--it certainly wins in presentation! And they’ll be able to tell on instant how much love went into it.

With a cake like this, a lot has to do with personal fruit preference and creative license. If you are making this for someone, they’ll notice if you make sure to use their favorite fruits. All you need to start with is a watermelon base, and then the rest really is up to you! Just attach the other fruits to the base using toothpicks however you’d like them to be arranged. I decided to make a three tiered fruit cake and then used grapes to line the bottoms of each tier. I also cut up star fruit because I thought the stars add a nice decorative touch to the cake, but pineapples, honeydew, and kiwis are all easily shapable with cookie cutters. On top surrounding the candle I layered some sliced strawberries for a luscious finish. However you decide to decorate, just have fun with it!

Cut ends off of watermelon. It should lie flat on its bottom.
Remove remaining rinds from edges of watermelon, making sure to maintain round shape.

For a tiered cake, shift the cake on its rounded edge and cut into three separate pieces, each equally thick. The middle piece will be the widest, as it is the most rounded part of the watermelon. Use this piece as the bottom tier of the cake. Trim the edges of the remaining to two pieces so that the top tier of the cake is least wide in diameter. Before assembling the tiers, place about 5 toothpicks on the bottom layer so that they protrude out of that first piece. Then place the second layer on top, affixing it to those toothpicks. Do the same for the top tier of the cake.

Now it’s time to decorate. Always start from the bottom and work your way up. I began by lining the bottoms of each tier with red grapes. To do so, stick one end of the toothpick into the watermelon, and the other into the red grape. The toothpicks will hold these embellishments in place.

Feel free to use whichever fruit you like best for decorating the rest of the cake. Just repeat the step above, and attach whichever fruits to the watermelon with a toothpick. Don’t forget to leave room in the middle of the top tier for a candle if this is a birthday cake!